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RACQUETBALL CANADA

2006 Canadian Racquetball Classic

Presented by Racquetball Canada

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The 2006 Canadian Racquetball Classic got under way with a large draw in the amateur divisions as well as the IRT portion. This is the second year the event has been held at the Cedar Springs Health and Racquet Club in Burlington Ontario. The action was fierce all evening as the heavily loaded Canadian presence in the IRT draw drew large crowds. A couple notable matches included former top eight IRT professional Mike Green taking out Team Canada teammate Kris Odegard in four games. Mike looked strong and looks ready to play this weekend. Current Canadian junior champion Ryan Smith took out former National Canadian junior champion Eric Derochers in three games in front of the largest crowd of the evening. Traveling all the way from Japan was Hiroshi Shimizu and he made this trip worthwhile taking out Scott Cambell in three straight. Lee Connell took a game off of Sudsy Monchik but Sudsy won the match in four. Other winners were Chris Crowther, Ben Croft, Agustin Tristan and Andy Hawthorne.

 Players signing autographs for the fans in Toronto

 Jason Mannino with some of his fans at the player reception Thursday

First round of sixteen matches began at 1130 and pitted hometown hero Mike Green vs. living legend Cliff Swain. A large crowd showed up for this one and the play was awesome. Mike still has it even though he has been absent from the tour for a few years. Cliff however would spoil “Greeny’s” upset bid and take the match 4 6 6. In the other 1130 match Andy Hawthorne gave it all he had but it was not enough against fellow Ohio native Shane Vanderson losing in four 7 2 (7) 3.

The 12:30 matches featured #1 Jack Huczek against Canada’s National 18 and under junior champion, Ryan Smith. Ryan works and plays at the club and as expected had a big crowd to watch him perform. Jack would make quick business of this match as he moves on 1,6,1. The other match saw Jason Thoerner battle Chris Crowther . Crowther won their early encounter in Kansas City this season and it would go the same way again here in Toronto as Chris moves on in three straight 3 7 8.

At 1:30pm Jason Mannino met up with Ben Croft and looked sharp from the get go. Jason would finish off Croft in three straight 3 3 1. In the other match Agustin Tristan would advance by default due to the inclement weather, which would not allow Alvaro Beltran to arrive in Toronto. The unexpected snow and ice storm would close down the Buffalo airport and prevent Beltran’s flight to arrive.

At 2:30pm Mitch Williams matched up with Japan’s Hiroshi Shimizu. Hiroshi definitely came to play and it showed. Williams would step it up a notch and hit some blistering down the line kills and move on to the quarters 10 5 (3) 7. The round of sixteen match everyone came to watch was Sudsy Monchik and Rocky Carson. This match would not let the crowd down as both players came to compete. Rocky would come out on top this weekend in four games 4 (1) 3 9. Sudsy continues to look better every time he steps on the court.

Quarter #1

Shane Vanderson recently move to the warmer climate of Fort Myers and began training with Cliff Swain and here they would play for the first time in a year. These two faced off tonight in a two hour marathon in front of a full house which included Toronto Maple Leaf star Hal Gill and former Oakland Raider Darrin McNally. They did not let the crowd down, as these to battled it out to five games. In a seesaw battle that had two close games to start the match and the next two one player took control. The fifth was a game to remember as both players hit some spectacular shots and some very close play. Vanderson would come out on top in this match (8) 10 2 (7) 7 and move into his first semi of the season.

Quarter #2

Jack Huczek ran into a fired up Chris Crowther in the second match of the evening that saw Crowther come out hitting some blistering drive serves that amazed the crowd. Crowther pounded away at the ball the first two games as Huczek waiting patiently for his opportunities to come. His patience paid off as the drive serves left Crowther and Huczek pushed his match-winning streak this season to 10 straight. The final would be in four games (10), 6, 2, 5 and Huczek moves to the Saturday 6pm semi-finals.

Quarter #3

Jason Mannino met his second former junior national champion of the day in Mexico’s and University of Alabama student Agustin Tristan. Mannino defeated University of Colorado at Pueblo student Ben Croft in the first round. Mannino did his best to stay focused throughout this match as Tristan fought off his nerves. Neither player would play their best ball but Jason would play good enough to win ugly in three games 5, 1, 10 to make his second straight semi appearance of the season in Saturday’s 4pm semi against Shane Vanderson.

Quarter #4

Rocky Carson and Mitch Williams would begin the last match of the night at 10:30pm and a few diehard fans waited around to watch some tough racquetball. Rocky would come out smoking hitting his backhand to the left corner every chance he got. Mitch definitely has game as he fought back hard in the second only to watch Rocky hit an overhead rollout from thirty nine and a half feet to take game two. Rocky would close it out at 11:25 with a forehand kill and move on 5, 9, 3 to meet Jack Huczek in the 6pm semi on Saturday

Semi final #1

Fall is in full swing here in Burlington Ontario as temperatures were in the forties but inside the Cedar Springs Health and Racquet Club it was heating up with anticipation of the Shane Vanderson and Jason Mannino. A full house was on hand for this match and the first game was hot. Each player would answer each others shots and serves. Jason was typical Jason diving and retrieving and waiting for the setup, which he would eventually kill. Mannino would take the first in a close one 11-9. The second and third games would be all Mannino as Shane experienced what the racquetball world knows a “ Skipitis”. Jason did not miss his shots as Shane struggled to find any rhythm. Mannino’s victory 9,3,3 would put him in his second straight final. The players were gracious enough to stay after and answer questions from the crowd, One fan in particular asked Jason “ What does it feel like to be in the finals” that fan, five-time number one, Sudsy Monchik.

Semi final #2

Jack Huczek stepped on the court to defend his Canadian Classic title; meeting for the third event in a row his doubles partner Rocky Carson. Rocky looked and sounded ready to play before the match but Jack would put an end to that fast as he put constant pressure on Carson throughout the match. Rocky struggled, as did Shane in the previous match to find any rhythm at all. Huczek would dominate this match and win in three straight 1,7,3 He will meet Jason Mannino for the second event in a row in the finals at noon Sunday.

MANNINO OVER VANDERSON 9 3 3
HUCZEK OVER CARSON 1 7 3

The Final

A rematch of last week’s Kentucky Open final is what the fans in Toronto had in store for them, #1 Jack Huczek against #5 Jason Mannino. Game one saw Huczek executing his shots and Jason Mannino making some uncharacteristic unforced errors enabling Jack to win game one 11-3. Much of the same was in store the rest of the match as Jason struggled to find a rhythm and Huczek continued to execute. Jason switched from his patented lob serves to a drive serve a few times in this one to mix it up but Huczek seemed to have an answer for everything Mannino came at him with. Jack would take this match in three straight 3,5,5 to defend his title here in Toronto and win his third straight IRT event of the season.